Class M Girls Soccer: Northwest Wins Third Title In Four Years

Jessica Fontaine Has Two Goals As Indians Roll

WATERBURY — — The Northwest Catholic girls soccer team won its third state championship in four years, defeating St. Joseph- Trumbull 4-1 Friday at Municipal Stadium in the Class M final.

Jessica Fontaine, the MVP, scored two goals and assisted on one.

"When we're on our game, they look great," Northwest Catholic coach Todd Sadler said. "They just look like a team — everyone is touching the ball. I was proud we got through that 15-minute stretch and put the game away."

Northwest Catholic looked in control heading into the second half after first-half goals by Anne Higgins and Fontaine, but the Cadets controlled play to start off the second half. With 28:58 left in the game, Marissa Grasso scored off a pass from Jenna Bike, cutting the Indians' lead to 2-1. But the back-to-back state champs did not panic, and off a Higgins corner kick, Madison Borowiec tapped it to Fontaine, who buried the goal with 18:27 remaining. Bailey Julian added the final goal with 11:58 left.

"I thought today we made some critical mistakes, especially the first two goals," St. Joseph coach Jack Nogueira said. "Once you do that against a very good offensive team, it's tough to come back."

Sadler said that when St. Joseph was coming back, he knew Northwest Catholic would need to score some more goals.

"In the first half, we always like to try to get out," he said. "By the same token we knew, and I told them at the beginning of the game, we'll need four or five goals to beat these guys because these guys will not quit, and they didn't."

Fontaine assisted on Higgins' goal and scored the second and third goal for the Indians. She held onto the state championship plaque for the entirety of the postgame celebration.

"It's amazing how we were even able to get back here again," Fontaine said. "We put so much hard work into it … many teams don't get to experience what it's like."

Although Northwest Catholic won by three goals, shots were close to even, with the Indians outshooting the Cadets, 14-12. Kelsey Dornfried had five saves for Northwest Catholic, while Molly Meehan stopped four shots for St. Joseph.